Breaking And Entering
by Uncommon-Aura
Summary: Nyx and the Cooper Gang have been receiving strange messages lately, from someone who seems to know Sly. This sends them to a prison in America, where they meet with the mystery man. In turn, this sends them on a mission to rob a museum in Italy. Meanwhile, Agent Alexander and Inspector Fox team up to catch the Cooper Gang. (Self insert/OC insert. Teaser/bonus to part of a series)


I uploaded this as a bonus chapter/teaser at the end of the AO3 reupload of And Maybe It's Not My Weekend (Rookie Edition). But I figured that it just wasn't fair to not post it here too. This is more pre-Sly3 stuff, taking place after Occupational Differences, and Times Have Changed. It features an entirely original heist, and poorly translated Italian. This will get rewritten and wind up in the rewrite, but I'm sure people will enjoy this version, too.

* * *

It wasn't every day that Sly Cooper broke into maximum security prisons. And if he did, it was usually to bust out a teammate. This time however, was a special circumstance...

Over the past few weeks, a man known as 'Big Jim McSweeny' had been trying to get the attention of the Cooper Gang, via carrier pigeons. They weren't sure what to make of it at first, but by now, this guy definitely had their attention.

So they'd bought tickets to fly to America, and hatched a plan to break into Heathrow Penitentiary, the prison where Bentley had located this McSweeny. Sly said he had no idea who this guy was, but Bentley and Nyx got the feeling that he was holding something back. Maybe he did know, somewhere in the back of his mind, but couldn't quite place it?

They supposed it didn't matter, did it? They needed to meet with this guy, and that was why Sly and Nyx had disguised themselves as prison guards, having incapacitated the two actual guards without raising an alarm.

Sly almost had to laugh as he walked down the rows of cells, seeing some rather familiar faces there. "Time to call it a night, Ruby. Lights out in five. You too, Muggshot, you too, Raleigh,"

Nyx raised an eyebrow from behind the large guard's coat she was wearing that didn't quite fit her, as she eyed the people in the cells. She'd insisted on going with him, saying that meeting an unknown informant alone is a bad idea. Sly had to agree with her, and complied with taking her along. Besides, she wasn't a rookie anymore, she knew what to do.

Sly caught the look that Nyx was giving him, and grinned, but said nothing. He'd told her all about the Fiendish Five, but this was the first time she'd been anywhere near them. He wasn't surprised that she was curious about them.

"Lights out, McSweeny," Sly said, as they approached the cell of a large purple walrus who could barely be seen in the dim lights.

The walrus was quiet for a few moments, before speaking with a gruff and accusing voice. "You're not Jonesy,"

"Officer Jones has the night off," Sly replied smoothly. "His shift is ours tonight,"

The walrus, who hadn't denied that he was McSweeny, hummed. "That's too bad. His lullabies are the only thing that can get me to sleep on nights like this,"

Sly chuckled slightly, and pulled out one of his calling cards to slip it into the cell. "Well, I'm not much of a crooner, but maybe this will ease your troubled mind,"

The walrus got up from his seat, and moved to pick up the card. He turned away slightly to regard it, and both thieves outside the cell swore they heard him mumbling to himself. Then, the walrus with one broken tusk turned back to them, eyes set in a hard glare. "This supposed to mean something to me, pal?"

That was when Sly pulled off the large guard's coat, revealing himself to be a raccoon clad in blue. "Only if you're the same 'Big Jim McSweeny' that's been trying to get the attention of Sly Cooper for the past couple of weeks... Are you?"

"You mean... Am I the same 'Big Jim McSweeny' who ran with the original Cooper gang? The same 'Big Jim McSweeny' that used to bounce a little snot nosed Sly on his knee between jobs?" questioned the walrus, all but confirming that he was the guy they were there for.

Nyx's eyes widened as she realized that this guy had known Sly's father, and a slight breath left her. The oversized hood on the disguise she wore hid her face from both McSweeny and Sly, and she was sort of glad for it. She didn't mean to look so shocked, but she'd never known that Sly's dad had his own team. In hindsight, however, it made sense.

"That's the one," Sly replied without missing a beat, staring down McSweeny with a steady look.

"Well, maybe I am, and maybe I'm not," said McSweeny. "How do I know you're not some ambitious wannabe with a forged calling card and a big mouth?"

Had this been back in her rookie days, Nyx might've opened her mouth to say something - Defend Sly. But she knew better than to do that, here. She'd stay quiet. She'd only come along as insurance, in case something went wrong. Not like she could actually take on someone as big as McSweeny... He was bigger than Murray...

"So what we're gonna do here, 'Sly', is give you a little pop quiz," McSweeny continued, pressing his palm to the glass between him and the two thieves. On his palm, was a tattoo of an intricate building. "Gimme the right answer, and maybe I'll keep talkin'. If you're really a Cooper, I probably won't even need to ask the question. You'll fill in the blanks all by yourself,"

Was McSweeny asking if Sly knew the location that was tattooed on him? Nyx didn't recognize it at all, but a strange look passed over Sly's face as he saw it. "Wait a second... Is that...?"

He paused for a moment, and Nyx watched as he stepped closer to the glass to place his hand over where McSweeny's was. "My father... He... That building looks... It reminds me of something... Did... He take me there when I was a baby?"

Nyx had never seen Sly flounder like that, or look so vulnerable. He was trying hard to remember something, but just couldn't seem to. She reached out to grab his shoulder firmly, but he didn't look at her, just kept staring at his own hand as McSweeny turned away from them.

"Sorry, kid. Lookin' pathetic don't earn no points with me," McSweeny said flatly. "Here's hopin' you find breakin' outta here easier than breakin' in. Not that a real Cooper would ever have to worry about that,"

The vulnerable look on Sly's face shifted into something firm then, and his finger slid towards the little button on his cane that extended the hook. "Oh yeah? You want a real Cooper? I'll give you a real Cooper!"

McSweeny had made a bit of a mistake by questioning if Sly was really a Cooper, Nyx thought. The raccoon didn't take much seriously, but his family name was one of the things he did. In one smooth movement, Sly had used his cane to unlock the cell door, and was springing towards McSweeny. "Lucky for you, I am the real Sly Cooper. A less civilized thief would have pulled out your tusks by now,"

Before Sly could cross the room, McSweeny let out a loud roar, and grabbed Sly by the neck to slam him into the wall as if he weighed nothing. Black spots danced across Sly's vision, but he kept his eyes on McSweeny.

"Sly!" Nyx hissed, drawing her hydrolic bat and letting the too-big hood of her coat fall back. She was just about to pounce, when Sly motioned for her to stay where she was. She took just one step back, and stared at Sly, then to the large walrus that was pinning him to the wall.

Sly grinned wide, and then opened his mouth to speak with a slightly strained voice. "Italy. When I was three, my father took me to a city in Italy... On the Ligurian coast. There was a museum there that looked as out of place as... As a walrus in a jail cell,"

McSweeny stared at Sly for another moment, before his eyes widened, and a huge smile broke out over his face. He then pulled Sly into a bone-crushing hug. "Sly! It really is you!"

Sly grunted as he was dragged into a hug firmer than Murray's, but didn't miss a beat. "I'm so sorry. If I had known you were here, I would have busted you out years ago,"

"Ah, that don't matter, kid," McSweeny scoffed. "I'm fine in here. The food ain't so bad, the prison library's one of the best in the state, and besides... Who'd ever think to look in a prison for an old Cooper crony?"

McSweeny then let Sly go, and the raccoon dropped to the floor, just a little bit dazed from being smashed against a wall, and then tightly hugged. "So, if you don't want to escape, why send out all those pigeons?"

"That's a good question, junior," McSweeny replied. "But not the real question you should be askin'. The one whose answer is so important is that I had it tattooed on the palm of my hand, so I'd never forget,"

Sly raised an eyebrow, silently prompting McSweeny to go on. Which he did. "Ain't ya ever wondered what happened to your family fortune after your parents bought the farm? I mean, as a thief from a long line of master thieves, what do ya figure ever happened to all that loot?"

It was a legitimate question, one that Sly thought about sometimes when it was late, and he was alone. It was something Nyx had never even considered until now, but it made a lot of sense. Where was all the Cooper fortune? It couldn't have just vanished, the Cooper's were smarter than that.

"Your pop was a good man... We were pretty close. We had a decent run, too, traveling the world, showing would-be thieves just how things were done. He spoke of a secret family vault - Believed to hold all the collected treasures of the Cooper ancestors..." McSweeny continued. "Things started getting a little tense just after you were born. We all decided to lay low, and let things cool down. With all the heat, your pop felt your legacy wouldn't be safe unless it was truly hidden - Even from himself. Then, when the time was right, it would all be revealed to you,"

McSweeny paused, and then smiled sentimentally. "...He was one of a kind, that old man of yours. Good to hear that you remember that museum... That was the last time I saw him - And you for that matter. Call me sentimental, but I thought it might be a good place to hide a map before turning myself in and taking up a 'permanent residence'. If you're even half the thief your father was, you'll find it in no time. Good luck, kiddo. Your pop woulda been proud to see how you've turned out,"

Sly had been completely silent while McSweeny spoke, and as Nyx looked to him after the walrus was done talking, she saw that the raccoon's eyes were just slightly wet. She grasped his shoulder again, squeezing gently to tell him it was okay. His father had always been a touchy subject for him...

McSweeny could see that Sly was a bit emotional, but chose to let it slide, instead asking another question. "So, who are you, missy?"

"Nyx," the feline responded. "Nyx Blythe,"

McSweeny laughed quietly. "The times, they are a-changin' ain't they? Back in my day, there weren't too many female thieves. But I take it you're good, if Sly's got you around,"

Blinking back the wetness around his eyes, Sly grinned. "I taught her everything she knows - Of course she's good,"

McSweeny laughed again, louder this time. "I'll take your word for it, kiddo. I sure hope I never see either of you in here, though,"

Sly chuckled, and even Nyx had to smirk. "Don't worry about that," Sly purred. "You won't,"

McSweeny rolled his eyes. "Just like your pop. Now, you two best be gettin' outta here, before the real guards come along,"

Sly nodded, looking back the way they'd came. "Yeah, good point... Thanks for the info, Jim. We'll visit, okay?"

McSweeny snorted. "I look forward to it,"

Nyx nodded to the walrus as Sly pulled his disguise back on, and Nyx pulled her hood back up. They headed back the way they'd come in, hoping they wouldn't run into any actual security. They hadn't known what to expect when they headed in, but they definitely got more than they bargained for. There was now a lot on Sly's mind; Trust his dad to somehow change his life on a dime, even after his death.

This job was looking like it was going to go pretty smoothly, which had both Nyx and Sly a little suspicious. Usually, a job involving prisons would be a little more dangerous...

"Hey, you there!"

Yeah, there it was; The complication in the heist they were expecting. Both thieves froze, and Nyx let out a sigh as she recognized the voice.

"Turn around, you two! I don't recognize you..." the voice demanded, followed by the sound of a gun being unholstered.

Nyx turned slowly, pulling down the hood of her guard disguise so the cop behind them could see her. A small smile played at her lips as Sly turned, too. "Hey, Jay. Funny meeting you here. Thought you were an FBI Agent, not a prison warden?"

Jay's face was a mixture of surprise and the exact opposite of impressed. It was a look that said 'Really? It had to be _you_?'. "I am... And what I'm doing here isn't your business. But you being here is indeed mine..."

"So, this is that friend of yours, huh?" Sly asked, ever relaxed in the face of potential arrest. "The one you ran into back when we hit that park, right?"

Nyx hummed. "Mhm. Sly, meet Special Agent Jay Alexander. Jay, meet Sly Cooper,"

"I know very well who he is," Jay sighed. "And you're both under arrest..."

Sly clicked his tongue and pulled a face. "Now, see, that's kinda not in our plan for today... We've got prior engagements..."

Jay narrowed his eyes at the snarky raccoon, and kept his gun trained on him. He wasn't concerned about Nyx trying anything, somehow he knew she wouldn't. But he didn't trust Cooper one bit. Especially considering the fact that the raccoon didn't seem to mind having a gun pointed at him, and was cracking wise. "You don't have a choice, you'll just have to call and let them know that you can't make it. Now hands up!"

"Jay..." Nyx sighed. "You know you don't wanna do this... Remember what I said? We're not your enemies..."

Jay gave Nyx a look that said he was calling bullshit. "Then why have you broken into a maximum security Penitentiary, hm?"

"Personal business," Nyx replied. "We haven't taken anything, and we haven't let anyone out. Can't we call this one as a mulligan?"

Jay wanted to. He didn't want to arrest someone he'd previously considered one of his best friends. But she was standing here with Sly Cooper, in Heathrow Penitentiary... "I don't have a choice..."

"Yeeeaahhh..." Sly drawled. "I was afraid of that..."

In one fluid movement, Sly then slammed a handful of smoke bombs onto the ground, and in another, had tackled Nyx over the railing, sending them both plummeting down towards the bottom floor.

Nyx would have screamed as they went, if it weren't for the fact that they'd done this before. Sly held onto her tightly as they rapidly used the elevator of gravity, impressed by how calm she was staying during a free fall. It only lasted for a few seconds, before Sly triggered his paraglider, and they were slightly jerked upwards. Their decent was slow and peaceful after that, the calm only broken by the sound of Agent Alexander screaming at the top of his lungs from the floor that was now many stories above them.

"I guess being friends doesn't give you many points with that guy, huh?" Sly asked as they floated down.

"He didn't want to arrest us - Or at least me. But it's his job..." Nyx replied, eyeing the floor as it came closer. Jay would no doubt call security on them, and they likely only had a few minutes to get out before backup arrived. "I think if he truly wanted to arrest us, he would've..."

"So you think he let us go?" Sly asked.

"I think he's hoping that someone else catches us, so that he doesn't have to do it personally..." Nyx mumbled.

Moments later, and they squished into the ground, their flight now over with. Sly detached his paraglider, and the two pulled themselves up off the floor to sprint for the fire escape door. They didn't doubt that perhaps there would be guards out there, too, but at least it wasn't as heavily guarded as the front gate. After all, you couldn't get in via the fire escape; Only out.

From the other side of the room, guards burst in just in time to see a raccoon tail slip out the fire escape. "After them! Unit one, circle around and try to cut them off! Unit two, with me! Johansen! Lock down the main gates!"

The orders could just barely be heard by the two thieves sprinting for the main gates. Okay, main gate wasn't an option. That wasn't too big a deal, though. Sly tugged Nyx's arm, and started leading her back towards the prison.

"Bentley, we've made it out of the building, but they know we're here," Sly said into his earpiece. "We're gonna head up to the top of the building and paraglide over the fence,"

"Got it," came the turtle's reply.

With Sly in the lead, the raccoon and cat made their way around the building, and then began to climb their way up it. There was a time when climbing such a huge building would have terrified the hell out of Nyx, but she was used to this by now. It didn't faze her anymore, and though she was indeed slower than Sly, she followed him up the building easily.

"They're heading to the roof! Unit three, attempt to cut them off! And get a helicopter in here!"

"They really wanna catch us..." Sly chuckled. "And like you said, we didn't even take anything - Or anyone,"

Nyx laughed as she leaped up to a window sill and then continued climbing upwards. "Well. It is a federal crime to break into a prison, but, yeah. It's not like we took McSweeny with us. Or raided their files or anything,"

Sly chuckled, as he reached the roof, and helped Nyx get up onto it. "I suppose we can't complain. Would be boring if the cops didn't come after us,"

Nyx snorted as Sly readied his backup paraglider. "Yeah, I guess you're right,"

Sly grinned and wrapped his arms back around Nyx's waist. "Y'know, you never would've said that three years ago,"

Nyx shrugged. "That was three years ago, Sly. This is now,"

Sly chuckled, and then leaped off the building, taking Nyx with him. He deployed the paraglider seconds later, sending them drifting along the slight breeze, and over the prison fence that was lined with barbed wire. "You've come a long way since that alley in Paris,"

"That I have," Nyx replied smugly as they floated towards the bushes just outside the fence.

They landed in the bushes, and quickly ditched the paraglider so they could sprint away towards their getaway vehicle, which was parked amongst the many other cars in the prison parking lot. It was where Bentley was stationed, having been monitoring every aspect of their heist.

There was yelling behind them as they made their grand escape, and it definitely wasn't over with yet. They'd surely get their own vehicles and give chase. Not even the FBI gave up easily.

Sly took the driver's seat as they reached the mini-van that Bentley was situated in the back of. Nyx claimed shotgun, and no sooner than she had all her limbs inside, Sly had the car going, and was peeling out of the parking lot.

Sirens sounded behind them, signifying that yeah, this wasn't quite over with. Their car was a dark color, which would hopefully help them lose the cops, but they weren't going to bet on just that to get them out of there.

Sly wasn't as good a driver as Murray, but he was still good; Good enough to speed through American nighttime traffic, and not crash into anyone. Cop cars marked by the flashing lights atop them pulled out of the prison shortly after the Cooper gang did, speeding after them at speeds that only cops legally could go at.

No one said a thing as Sly navigated the light traffic, weaving and darting between other cars to try and lose their pursuit. Nyx was kind of impressed that he wasn't accidentally driving on the wrong side of the road... She figured that it wasn't every day he got to drive in America.

Nyx twisted herself around to watch the lights of the police cars behind them, as the cops tried to follow Sly's driving pattern. But darting between traffic the same way Sly had, when the other cars were still in motion wasn't easy.

It took a little bit of time, and some risky driving on Sly's part, but they slowly began to lose the police vehicles behind them. Nyx watched as the lights became farther away, the sirens becoming less obvious as more distence was put between them. As the blaring sirens faded, she could hear Bentley typing away in the back of the mini-van.

It wasn't much longer afterwards, and they'd completely lost the cops. Sly slowed down then, and merged with the civilian traffic. Nyx continued to watch behind them for a few moments, almost expecting the cops to reappear.

When they didn't, she smiled and leaned back into her seat. "Well. That wasn't exactly what I expected, but it wasn't an unpleasant surprise,"

"I didn't know your father had a gang, too," commented Bentley.

"I barely remember them," replied Sly, looking like he was trying to dredge up some more memories of McSweeny, or any other person his father had ran with. But the memories were so vague... "I think... I remember McSweeny from the museum in Italy, but it's so vague..."

Nyx reached over to pat Sly's shoulder. "You were three, Sly. Even I barely remember stuff from when I was three,"

Sly nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I know,"

There was a long moment of silence after that, before Bentley spoke up. "So. I take it we're going to Italy, hm?"

Sly looked from Nyx to Bentley, briefly leaning around the driver's seat to see the turtle. "You guys up for it?"

Nyx scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Of course we are. This is your family legacy we're talking about. We're absolutely going to Italy, right, Bentley?"

"Absolutely," the turtle replied, smiling at his two teamates. "I'm booking the flight now,"

* * *

Jay crossed his arms and stared down the big walrus that was in the interrogation room with him. "What were Sly Cooper and Nyx Blythe doing in Heathrow Penitentiary?"

McSweeny shrugged, not taking this guy very seriously. "What makes ya think I know?"

"Your cell was left unlocked after they escaped," Jay hissed. "They came to see you. What did they want?"

The walrus' eyebrows raised, feigning ignorance. "What makes you think I even know 'em?"

Jay looked down at the file on McSweeny that was on the table before him. "Says here that you used to run with Conner Cooper - Sly's father. Try to tell me it's a coincidence that Sly showed up to talk to you,"

McSweeny was quiet a moment, before cocking one eyebrow. "If I'm bein' accused of somethin', shouldn't I have a lawyer?"

"I'm not accusing you of anything - Yet," Jay replied sternly. "I just wanna know what Cooper and Blythe wanted from you,"

McSweeny gave another shrug. "What makes ya think they wanted somethin'?"

"Like I said," Jay growled. "Your cell was unlocked after they left. They were caught on the same floor as your cell, just down the hall from it. Looked like they were leaving from talking with you. I wanna know what you talked about,"

"But who said we did any talkin'?" asked McSweeny.

"You really want me to believe that it's coincidence that your old partner's son shows up here?" Jay asked. "We found his calling card in your cell..."

McSweeny tapped his massive fingers against the table. "So he gave it to me. Doesn't mean I know why, or what it is,"

Jay exhaled sharply through his nose. This guy had one tough resolve. "Do you know how many years I can add to your sentence for interfering with a federal investigation? Let alone for collaborating with wanted criminals?"

The threat didn't seem to bother McSweeny, and he just shrugged again. "Does it look like I care, buddy? You can't threaten me. I'm already here for life,"

Jay was silent for a moment, his lips pursed tightly. "How about this, then? You tell me what you know, and I'll try to cut you a deal?"

McSweeny laughed at that. "A deal? No way, pal. Never said I wanted outta this joint!"

Jay's eyes narrowed and he ground his teeth. "Then it was information you gave them, right? Probably has to do with your old partner, Conner Cooper, I'll bet,"

"You can believe whatever you wanna believe, I ain't sayin' nothin'," said McSweeny, leaning back in the chair that was almost too small for him.

"Still denying any involvement in this, huh?" Jay sighed. "What about the security tapes, then? Did you know that Cooper's gang corrupted the cameras so they wouldn't record footage of your cell block? Do you know what that looks like?"

"Hey, if they came to see me, I didn't invite 'em! Ya got no proof that says I told 'em anythin'! It's all circumstancial, buddy,"

Jay ground his teeth again. "We have a calling card found in your cell, the cameras recording your cell tampered with, and the suspects found just down the hall from your unlocked cell, with nothing stolen from the prison. To me, it sure looks like you and Cooper had a little meeting,"

"Think whatever you wanna, Hoover guy. I ain't talkin' 'cause there's nothin' to say," McSweeny claimed, looking at the vampire bat before him through half-closed eyes. A thousand other officers and Agents just like him had tried prying information about the Cooper family from him, and none had succeeded. This guy would be no different.

Jay glared at McSweeny for a long moment, before gathering up his files and stalking out of the room. "Put him back in his cell," he hissed to the guards as he marched down the hall.

As he went, he fished his cell phone out of his pocket, and dialed a number he never thought he'd ever have to. After a few rings, an accented female voice came through from the other end. "This is Inspector Fox,"

"Hey, Carmelita. It's Special Agent Alexander... I've got a lead on Cooper..." Jay said, pinning the phone to his ear with his shoulder, so he could open the files in his hands. "He and Blythe broke into Heathrow Penitentiary tonight. All the evidence left points to them meeting with a Jim McSweeny, but he won't admit to anything,"

Carmelita was quiet for a short moment. "...Can you get to Venice? I'm on a job right now, but I'd like to review the evidence with you,"

Jay thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. I can catch a flight tomorrow,"

"Good," replied Carmelita. "I'll meet you at the airport,"

And with that, the fox hung up. Jay snorted, and pocketed his phone. He headed back down to the prison lobby, where one private detective was waiting for him. "Any luck?"

"Nope," Jay replied, walking past Connor to head out of the prison.

The fruit bat turned to follow as his partner walked past him, into the parking lot. "Wouldn't admit anything, or didn't say anything useful?"

"Wouldn't admit involvement in any way," Jay sighed. "He's a sneaky bastard. Used to run with Sly Cooper's father, back in the day,"

"He's already serving a life sentence, it can't get any worse than that, unless they try pushing the death penalty," said Connor. "Which, considering the strange lack of evidence against him, is unlikely. So why wouldn't he admit anything, if you had so much evidence that they spoke to him?"

Jay sighed and raked hands back through his hair. "I think he's protecting them. He told them something important. And he doesn't want us following them..."

"Have you called Inspector Fox?" asked Connor, raising an eyebrow.

"Mhm. Just got off the phone with her. I'm catching a flight tomorrow. To Venice. She's on a job there,"

Connor hummed thoughtfully. "Want me to go with you?"

"No need. We'll just be reviewing evidence," said Jay. "I think you should stay and follow up here. See what you can't find out about Cooper's old man,"

"Got it," Connor replied, adjusting his coat. "You think this has something to do with Sly's dad?"

Jay nodded. "Conner Cooper, yup. Spelled with an e, not an o like yours. McSweeny was close with him... Gotta be a connection,"

"Am I looking for anything specific?" Connor asked, producing the keys to his car from his right pocket.

"No, I want everything you can find about the guy. He was a big name thief, there's gotta be something. Why else would Cooper break into prison to see his dad's old teammate?"

Connor hummed. "Why didn't they break him out, though?"

Jay sighed and bit his lip. "I dunno. He said he wasn't looking to get out... Which is all the more suspicious. He told them something, I think. Gave them information or intel..."

"Which means there might be a heist inbound..." mused Connor. "We got any clues that tell us where they might be going?"

Jay shook his head. "I wish. Cooper is careful, and so is McSweeny..."

"What about Nyx?" Connor suggested.

"She's part of the Cooper Gang now. Has been for almost four years. She's just as careful as they are..." Jay replied.

Connor shrugged. "Still, might be helpful to talk to her mom. She might know something, even if she doesn't know she does,"

Jay hummed. "Yeah, maybe... Nyx might not expect us to go talking to her mom again... Though do we really wanna go reminding Karen that her daughter is a criminal?"

"Might be a necessary evil," Connor replied, leaning against his car. "Now, you plan to stay up all night working on this, or are you gonna let me take you to dinner?"

Jay sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "How about we talk about the case while we eat?"

Connor gave Jay an unimpressed look. "That's not a very romantic date, Jay. Cooper and Nyx are long gone. You're going to see Inspector Fox tomarrow. Take the night off, and spend it with me,"

Jay wanted to refuse, wanted to keep working on the case, but he couldn't say no to those eyes. "Fine, fine... Where we going?"

Connor smiled triumphantly. "I was thinking this nice Italian bistro I know..."

Jay rolled his eyes. "I'm going to Italy tomarrow, y'know,"

Connor shrugged. "Yeah, and?"

* * *

"I can't believe we're finally pulling a job in Italy..." Nyx said wistfully, snapping another picture. "Liguria looks so beautiful from up here!"

"Yes, Nyx, it's very gorgeous," said Bentley. "But can you please stop taking pictures of the skyline, and focus on the museum?"

Nyx laughed and snapped one more photo of the sky. "Okay, okay. Recon pics, coming right up,"

She scanned her eyes over the huge museum before her, before snapping a shot of the front door as a patron walked inside. Sly was right... It did look a little out of place... The archetecture didn't quite fit in... "The front doors are automatic. Think you can override them without triggering the alarms?"

"Do you doubt my mastery of hacking?" Bentley asked. "I'm sure I can get at the system and convince it to open the doors for me... _Without_ alerting anyone..."

"There's a loading zone in the back here," said Sly, likely sending a picture to Bentley as he spoke of it. "They're unloading some paintings right now..."

Bentley hummed quietly. "That might be another way inside... But it won't take care of security..."

"Speaking of..." said Nyx, snapping a shot of one of the cameras outside the front doors. "Looks like there's a good ammount of it,"

"Those cameras look pretty basic, nothing too fancy... I might be able to cause a system wide failure, but that might result in triggering an alarm that would alert the police..." mused Bentley. "We'd have to block the signal somehow to cut the security without the cops being called..."

Nyx leaped from her perch, and crossed over to another building via the telephone wire connecting them. "Think you can do that?"

"With enough intel, I should be able to, yes..." replied Bentley. "It all depends on the specific technology they're using,"

Nyx snapped a picture of the windows at the side of the building, noting that it looked like they had alarms on them, too. "Can we get that information without getting inside?"

"I'm not sure..." hummed Bentley. "I've got a few ideas... Why don't you two come on back to the safehouse? I've got a plan forming..."

"Got it," said Nyx, pocketing her binocucom and sticking to the rooftops as she headed back towards the safehouse. Maybe the streets were less obvious, but like Bentley always said; The view was always better from the rooftops, and Nyx was thoroughly enjoying it.

Sly soon joined his feline companion, still being the quicker thief between the two. "Wanna stop for coffee?"

"You think Bentley will appreciate us stopping for coffee while we're supposed to be working a heist?" Nyx asked, laughing at the raccoon.

"He's doing plans and stuff, he won't immediately need us," said Sly. "We can take five minutes to get coffee,"

Nyx hummed. "Okay, sure. Coffee it is,"

Sly beamed, and started pulling Nyx towards the nearest coffee shop. How he knew where the nearest coffee shop was, Nyx would never know, but she wasn't going to ask. The shop Sly dragged her to was small, and quiet, just the way the raccoon liked his coffee shops.

They ordered their usual drinks, and a double espresso for Bentley, before heading back to their little safehouse. Bentley likely already had a half-baked plan in his head, but it likely wouldn't be ready just yet.

When they entered, Sly held up the double espresso as a silent explanation for where they'd been. The question that had been on Bentley's lips died as the coffee was placed before him. "I'm throwing around some ideas on how to circumvent security and get us inside, but it's going to take me a bit more time..."

"No rush, Bentley. That map isn't going anywhere," said Sly, settling into a chair at the table and sipping at his black coffee.

Bentley grunted to acknowledge what Sly said, but didn't say anything in response. Meanwhile, Nyx fished her sketchbook out of her backpack, and took a seat across from Sly. She pulled her phone from her pocket, and sifted through the pictures she'd taken on it before they'd arrived at the safehouse.

Once she'd chosen one, she turned to a clean page of her sketchbook, and started sketching. It had become a tradition of hers, to sketch something of each location they pulled a heist in. It had also become a tradition of her's to sketch Sly when he wasn't looking...

"Chose the low angle, huh?" Sly asked, leaning across the table to see the picture she'd chosen to draw.

Nyx hummed an affirmative and then sipped from her mocha frappuccino. "I like the way the buildings look,"

"What about the ones you took during recon?" Sly asked. "Bet those look pretty cool,"

"Those are currently stuck on Bentley's laptop, and I know he's not going to stop planning just to email them to me," Nyx replied with a laugh.

Bentley snorted a laugh. "You are correct. I've got something good going on here,"

Nyx and Sly both smirked at the turtle, and the safehouse then went quiet. With Bentley typing away, and Nyx sketching, Sly resolved to pull out the Thievius Raccoonus, and start detailing the events that were currently unfolding. He got the feeling it was all going to be a heist for the record books.

Nearly an hour and a half later, Bentley started fiddling with his trusty projector, signifying that his plan was all put together, and all that was left was to relay it to his teammates. Nyx and Sly both watched from the corners of their eyes as Bentley put his slideshow together. Maybe the slideshows weren't necessary, but they'd all come to love them over time. They were Bentley's personal touch to a heist.

Eventually, Bentley clapped his hands together. "Okay! You all ready for this?"

Sly grinned and kicked his feet up onto the table. "Lay it on us,"

Bentley fired up the projector, and thus the slideshow began. "Our objective is clear; Get into that museum without alerting anyone, and steal the map that Jim McSweeny hid. In order to do that, we're going to have to do just a little bit of prep work,"

The first slide had been of one of Nyx's high shots, and the next was a more close-up shot of the museum doors. "The museum has automatic doors, which I can easily hack into to open remotely. The problem will be avoiding the security cameras that are everywhere," the slide changed to show one of the various cameras positioned around the buildings. "I could hack these to cause a system-wide failure, but such a failure would definitely send an alarm to the authorities, not to mention alert the guards inside the prison - Which would send them all our way,"

"So I've decided that we're not going to shut down security - Don't look at me like that, I've got a better plan. I know you've both seen the movie Speed, and we're going to copy it. I'll hack into the security camera systems, and record footage off of them, then we'll cut the connection between the cameras and the monitors inside the museum, and instead feed the monitors our looped tapes. That way it'll look like no one is there, even if we are," explained Bentley.

"Now, to do that, we're going to have to get inside the museum to modify their machines. Yep, we've got to get inside, _before_ we get inside. Don't worry, I've got a plan for that. I've discovered that there's a routine system inspection scheduled to happen today, and if one of us were to impersonate the inspector, we could get into their security room, and install the bug I'll need to make this work. Nyx, I'm giving this job to you, since you make a much better nerd than Sly does," continued the turtle.

"Hey!" Sly protested, giving Bentley a look.

"Don't sound so offended, Sly, you've got a job in this, too," said Bentley. "The security guard will no doubt watch while Nyx inspects the technology, making it impossible for her to bug the systems. So, Sly, you're going to dress up like a basic troublemaker, and try to sabotage one of the cameras outside, which should get the attention of the security guard in the monitoring room. Keep him away long enough for Nyx to plant the bugs, and then get out of there before you get caught,"

"Once we do that, I should be all set up to hack the cameras remotely, and that should be all we need to get ourselves into that museum," Bentley concluded, the slideshow flickering to an end.

Nyx and Sly looked to each other, then grinned. "Looks like we've got some disguises to put together," Sly purred.

* * *

"How do I look?" I asked, pushing my wide-framed red glasses up onto my nose.

Sly regarded me for a moment. "Like a nerd,"

I smiled at him. "Good. You look like a greasy jaywalker,"

Sly gave me a matching grin. "Exactly what I'm going for,"

"You two done flirting?" Bentley asked, looking up at us over his laptop. I laughed and nodded, choosing to ignore that he still called our banter 'flirting'.

"Who's heading out first?" I asked, grabbing a pen and sticking it behind my right ear.

"Sly is. He's going to sabotage the car of the actual inspector, to hopefully keep her from arriving before we can finish our job," Bentley answered.

Sly nodded, and ducked towards the door. "Got it~"

With Sly gone to impersonate a greasy jaywalker, I took the time to check over my disguise, make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. Disguises weren't always necessary, but my fur markings were a little more memorable than the basic raccoon, so I tended to err on the side of caution sometimes.

This time, I'd used dye powder to turn my fur a dark brown, making my siamese and tabby markings nearly vanish. I'd put on a long brown wig and tied it up in a neat ponytail, complete with nerdy scrunchie. The large red glasses were a favorite of mine, and we'd put together a nerdy looking oufit with a white button-down, black pencil skirt, and heels.

I normally hate wearing heels on a job - They're impossible to run or climb in - But I figured it didn't matter for _this_ job. I wasn't going to be climbing or fighting; I needed to look like a nerdy tech inspector. To top off the disguise, I was wearing contacts that turned my eyes gold, like most adult cats. I'd even taken out my piercings for this one, I was going all out with it.

Once I'd checked myself over, I settled back into my seat at the table, and took a drink from my second mocha frappuccino. I figured I had a bit of time to kill, and thus decided to get back to my sketching.

"Okay, Nyx, you're on," Bentley said after a while, looking up at me. "You don't have forever before the actual inspector will discover her car tampered with, so you're going to have to move fast,"

I nodded. "Gotcha," I headed for the door, and got into the car we'd rented for our stay. Bentley and I had agreed that it would have been strange if I walked to the museum instead of arriving in a vehicle.

Driving with heels on isn't my favorite thing ever, but I made it to the museum in one piece. I parked near the entrance to the parking lot, and prepared to get into character. Bentley had discovered the name of the technician scheduled to inspect the museum's systems today, and had gotten me a fake ID with her name, but he was still going to have to walk me through a few things. I had to _look_ like I knew what I was doing.

"I'm heading in," I said to Bentley as I climbed out of the car and started towards the museum.

"Roger that. I'll tell you whatever you need to know, don't worry," replied Bentley.

I didn't reply to that as I walked into the museum, and smiled kindly at the golden retreiver behind the counter as I produced my fake ID. "Hello, I'm here to inspect your security systems," I used an uppity, sweet, feminine voice, one that had made Sly nearly choke when he'd first heard me use it. It was perfect for something like this.

The retreiver took the ID from me, and examined it for a moment. Then he smiled. "Right this way, Miss Toner,"

I smiled at him again, and followed him down a set of hallways, and into the security room. There was a meerkat lounged in one of the chairs that was before all the monitors, and he turned to look as we entered.

"This is Miss Lisa Toner, she's here to inspect the systems," said the golden retreiver.

"Ah yeah," sighed the meerkat as he pulled himself from his chair. "Almost forgot,"

The golden retreiver smiled at me again, and then ducked out of the room. I smiled at the meerkat as I took a seat in front of the computers. Bentley started giving me instructions then, such as what to click and what to type.

I'd barely gotten started when I noticed Sly in the loading zone camera, messing around with things. I pretended to look concerned as I pointed it out to the meerkat. "Excuse me, sir? There seems to be someone in your loading zone..."

The meerkat leaned over me to look, and then groaned. "Damn teenagers again... Ugh, hang on. Don't go anywhere, 'kay?" he then headed out of the room, not bothering to wait for a response.

Well, that was easy... As soon as the door closed behind me, Bentley started giving me new instructions. I ducked under the desk to start messing with the wiring and other devices down there. Following Bentley's instructions, I introduced the bug he'd given me that would let us record from the cameras, as well as cut their connections to the monitors. It would basically give us access to the whole system, which Bentley couldn't hack remotely. He could hack the cameras remotely, but not the monitors they broadcasted to; Those were local.

Once that was done, I resumed pretending to do a system check, waiting for the meerkat to come back. He looked annoyed when he did, mumbling something about 'troublemaking teenagers'. I silently wondered what Sly might've done to the camera out there, and tried to not laugh...

After a few more minutes, I logged out of the computer, and stood up to smile at the meerkat guard. "Looks like everything's in working order,"

"So we're done here?" he asked, sounding bored and annoyed.

I nodded. "Mhm! That's all I need, we're done. Thank you for your time,"

The meerkat muttered a, "Yeah," as I exited the room and headed back towards the lobby. I smiled to the golden retreiver as I went, not dropping the smile until I'd exited the building.

"Great job, Nyx. That bug is working like a charm," purred Bentley. "You should both head back here at your soonest convience, I've got a plan forming,"

"On it," came Sly's reply to that.

I made my way back to our car, got in, and pulled out of the parking lot, taking a bit of a long way back. I did so for a reason, said reason being picking up my raccoon partner. I pulled up next to him as he walked down the road, having shed his disguise, and shouted out the passenger's window. "You need a lift?"

Sly grinned at me as he opened the door. "Don't mind if I do,"

Once Sly was in the car, I started back for the safehouse, arriving just as the sun was starting to go down. Not much longer, and the big heist would be in motion.

Bentley was fiddling with his projector when we walked in, clearly making yet another slideshow for us.

I immediately kicked off the uncomfortable heels the moment the door was closed behind us, letting them hit the wall and then lay on the floor in an undignified heap. Heels look great, but damn are they uncomfortable...

Sly laughed as I abused my shoes, and clapped me on the back. "How ladylike,"

I scoffed at the raccoon and took off my wig to smack him with it - Not that it was a very viable weapon.

Sly ducked away from my assault, laughing the whole way. He vaulted himself over the table, and flopped into his seat to finish his cold coffee. "I thought you'd be best friends with anything that made you taller,"

"I like boots, Sly. Not terrible heels that put me off-balence," I informed the raccoon. "You know that,"

Sly shrugged, and Bentley cleared his throat. "Are we ready to proceed?"

We then gave up our banter again, in favor of watching Bentley's next slideshow. "I call this heist Operation: Smoke and Mirrors! With the bug planted in the museum's computer systems, I can access both their remote cameras, and local computers. Once the museum closes, I'll record footage from each camera, and then severe the live feed to the monitors. I'll simultaneously replace the live feed with my recordings of the empty room, making it look like no one is there all the time,"

"With the cameras unable to spot us, thus begins phase two. I'll hack into the automatic door, and convince it to open for us. You two will head inside, and slip around the guard patrols to get the map," continued Bentley. "I've deduced that it's hidden on the back of one of the paintings in the east wing. Once you've got it, head back out, and we'll be on our way,"

I nodded in regards to the plan. "Sounds easy enough,"

"Don't get cocky now, you never know what might happen," warned Bentley. "We've got some time before the museum closes, so why don't you try washing off that dye?"

I hummed in response to that. "Good idea," I stopped by my suitcase to snag a towel, and then made for the bathroom. The dye probably wouldn't all come out at once, but I could at least lighten it significantly if I shampooed enough.

I spent half an hour in the shower, scrubbing the dye out of my fur. When I was done, my fur was only a shade or two darker than it should have been, and that would wash out with another shower. It came out more than I'd expected, and thus I was rather pleased.

Fur and hair both slightly damp, I pulled on clean job clothes, and headed out of the bathroom. Bentley was still sat at his laptop, doing whatever tech thing he might be doing. Sly had found the Nintendo DS I'd packed, and was currently messing with it, which wasn't an uncommon thing. We sort of shared the thing by then.

"Ah, you're just in time," Bentley hummed as I emerged from the steamy bathroom. "I'm recording the camera footage now,"

I nodded to the turtle, tossed my towel onto a chair, and started pulling on my shoes, followed by the rest of my gear. When I was done, I flopped into my chair, and waited for Bentley to give us the okay.

Eventually, the turtle nodded to himself, then looked to us. "Alright, you two are good to go. Get in there and get us that map,"

Sly set down my DS, and nodded to me. "Ready for this?"

I grinned and pulled myself out of my chair. "Of course,"

Sly grabbed his cane from the table, and lead the way out of the safehouse. We took the car, and pulled up outside the now-closed museum in no time. "I'm hacking the doors as we speak," said Bentley, as we climbed out of the car.

By the time we'd crossed the parking lot and reached the doors, Bentley had hacked them. They slid open for us, giving us the most direct route I swear we'd ever taken. "And there you have it!" purred Bentley, referring to his door-opening job. "Now be careful in there, I can't hack away guards,"

Sly chuckled. "Don't worry, Bentley, we've done this stuff a thousand times,"

We surveyed the lobby carefully as we entered, alert and on the lookout for guards. I could hear someone shuffling in the hallway to our right, and I motioned in that direction. Sly nodded to me, and took the lead as we slowly slipped towards that hallway. It was, of course, the hallway we needed.

Standing in the hall was a burly rottweiler, armed with a flashlight and a tonfa. Sly motioned for me to stay where I was, and slipped up behind the guy. With two impressive swings of his cane, the guard was down for the count, and not a problem anymore.

We slipped into the first exhibit, which seemed to be all about wars or something, but I wasn't really paying attention. It lead off into another hall, which was guarded by security lasers. By that time, lasers didn't surprise me anymore.

"I can't hack those lasers, unless I were there to get into the local terminal," Bentley informed us. "You'll have to slip around them,"

"Got it," I replied, nodding to Sly as he tiptoed down the hall. I followed behind him as he ducked around the lazers, each of us carefully watching our tails to keep them out of the lasers.

The next room we found ourselves in was a wildlife exhibit, full of taxedermied feral animals that were now extinct. I regarded them for a few moments, before we moved on. We had to get all the way to the east wing, and then identify the painting that McSweeny had hidden the map on.

There were many more instances of lasers in our way, but they weren't hard to circumvent. It was the guards that were a slight inconvieniece, forcing us to slow down and take slightly different routes. But we made it to the east wing without alerting anyone, which I considered pretty good work.

"Okay, the painting you're looking for should be one of the French countryside," instructed Bentley.

"Like I know what the French countryside looks like..." I muttered, glancing around at all the paintings that were there.

Sly chuckled as he eyed the paintings. "I do. That's why McSweeny chose it... I grew up on a farm, remember?"

I hummed snorted. "That's right, you're a farm boy..."

Sly looked over various paintings, before finding the one he deemed correct, and pulled it off the wall. He was careful in removing the canvas from it's frame, and turned it over to look at it. I leaned over his shoulder to look. "Wow..."

Sly nodded in regards to my statement. I wasn't any good at reading maps, but that definitely was one that was written on the back of this painting. "We've got the map, Bentley," Sly said, carefully rolling up the parchment and handing it to me so I could put it in my backpack. I felt sort of special for Sly trusting me with it.

"Great, now you just have to get out and get back here," said Bentley, as Sly placed a calling card in place of the canvas.

With our heist half-done, we headed back the way we'd came, slipping through the security lazers again. This job was looking like it was going to go rather smoothly.

That thought didn't last long, of course. With the front doors in sight, it was looking like we were home free. Before we could reach the doors however, they were violently kicked in, and there stood a unit of cops.

"Congelare!" the woman heading up the unit yelled. I recognized that as the Italian equivalent of 'Freeze!'.

We didn't exactly freeze, but we didn't go running, either. Instead, we just sort of stood there, staring down the cops. I was a bit concerned by the firearms they pointed at us, as I usually am. Sly looked pretty unalarmed by the whole thing though, which was pretty usual for him, too.

"Non muoverti, sei in arresto!" the woman announced, taking a few purposeful steps towards us. My Italian wasn't fluent, or even conversational, but it wasn't hard to understand the word for 'arrest'.

We both regarded the officer for a moment. She was an Italian Greyhound, with her dark gray hair pulled into a bun. She was definitely older than Carmelita, likely higher up in her position, too. She looked annoyed by us not exactly surrendering to her, and so Sly smirked at her. I had a feeling based on experience that something cocky and/or flirty was about to come out of his mouth.

"Vieni adesso, non vuoi davvero arrestarci, vero?" Sly purred, and by the tone of his voice, he'd chosen something slightly flirty. I couldn't completely understand what he'd said, but I could figure it was something along the lines of him questioning whether this woman really wanted to arrest us.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Hai violato in un museo nazionale, cosa ne pensi? Adesso alzati le mani!"

That, I couldn't translate at all, aside from the officer mentioning the museum, and asking what was likely a rhetorical question, before demanding something; Likely our surrender.

Sly smirked in a smooth and flirty way, shrugging slightly. "E cosi che sara, eh? Scusa ma abbiamo altri piani,"

I couldn't even begin to try figuring out what that meant, before Sly had an arm around my waist, and was dragging me down another hallway, through a completely new section of the museum.

I heard angry Italian being shouted at us as we went, and the sound of a shock pistol going off. "Another angry police woman, huh?" I snickered to Sly as he let go of me so I could run on my own.

"What can I say? They love me," Sly grinned, motioning for me to follow him as he took a left.

"Riiigghtt. That's why they all try to shoot and arrest you," I drawled, hearing heavy boots hitting the floor behind us.

Sly laughed. "Hey, she'd shoot you, too,"

I rolled my eyes as we picked up the pace and took another set of turns to try losing our pursuit, whom was shouting what _had_ to be curse words at us. I idly thought about how this woman would likely get along swimmingly with Carmelita.

"So, Bentley," Sly said, acting as if this wasn't really a big deal. "We're being chased by a charming Italian cop. Got any plans?"

Bentley gave a short 'Uhh' before he gave an actual reply to that. "There should be a courtyard to the west of you, it's surrounded by a fence, but you should be able to climb it,"

"Got it, thanks, pal," Sly hummed, leading me in the proposed direction of the courtyard.

It likely wouldn't be long before more police units had the whole building covered, so we had to act fast. We sprinted out into the courtyard, and made for the tall fence surrounding it. Considering some of the other things I've climbed, it wasn't much of a problem.

The Greyhound burst into the courtyard right as we got back down to the ground on the other side of the fence. She shouted something, and Sly tipped his hat to her, before we sprinted away.

There was more shouting behind us, and the sounds of police sirens wailing in the distance. Per usual, I let Sly take the lead as we escaped; His sense of direction was forever better than mine.

It was an unspoken decision that we were going to ditch our rented car. The police no doubt had it covered, identifying it as a car that shouldn't have been there. It left us having to run back to the safehouse, but that wasn't too big a deal. That meant we could climb up onto the rooftops, where we were harder to chase.

There had been a time in my life where climbing and thief moves were hard, but by this point in my life, I had it all figured out. I wasn't as good as Sly, but I could keep up and hold my own no problem.

We scampered up to the rooftops as soon as we could, and started parkouring our way from building to building, climbing higher and higher as we went. I'd learned a long time ago that a great way to lose the cops was to climb a really tall building. Most normal people - Even cops - Didn't know how to free-climb.

It took a bit of time, but we eventually lost our pursuit, the city around us going suitably quiet for the middle of the night. Sly and I grinned at each other triumphantly. Mission acomplished.


End file.
